BACK TO THE 80s

Those light blues the Royals, Phillies and Cardinals wore.  My mom and dad played baseball and softball and they had at least half dozen jerseys that color when I was growing up.

That smiling orange bird… I remember smiling when I saw it as a kid.  I bought a hat last year with the Baltimore Orioles logo and my niece, who at the time didn’t know anything about baseball, had the same reaction I did.

Add this with a prolonged conversation with a teenager about Arianna Grande and myself arguing the significance of Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” and you can only come to one conclusion… the 80s are finally back.

Nearly 30 years after their lone world championship, a new Kansas City Royals have been reborn.  Built with the spirit of legendary Hall of Famer George Brett.  The pine tar home run at Yankee Stadium and his reaction is forever burned into my baseball loving brain.

And on the other side are the very orange, very positively happy birds known as the Orioles who in recent years have made rumblings in the AL East.  Now they’re the division champs, rocking a classic look.

The only negative is that the 80s weren’t a good time for the Yankees with only one appearance in the “big show” in 1981 losing to the Dodgers.

What’s this mean? Simple Minds sang, “Don’t You (forget about me)”  and this American League Championship Series is a reminder that once again baseball is changing.  What’s old is new.




The O’s have proven to be part of the conversations the past few seasons and while New York and Boston have history and iconic figures of the sport… prestige won’t guarantee you anything. It’s time for the teams who’ve dominated the past few decades to stop and look at how competitive every franchise, except the Houston Astros, really are.

Teams are plotting out their future and making their moves.  Last years champions are in last place a year later. New teams from the past have awaken.  They have risen hungry and have found different ways to compete. Didn’t we learn anything from ”Red Dawn” people?

I enjoy seeing this 80s throwbacks, the hardworking small ball Royals or the “get it done,” we don’t wine that our better players are hurt or suspended Orioles.

It’s a hat tip to a very competitive decade in the sport and a living example of a time when players were real ballplayers… tough, gritty and full of character. Like neon and pop music, baseball is having a nostalgic period.

So dust off your Duran Duran cassettes, put on your neon clothing and enjoy the show. Let’s go back in time with the Royals or the Orioles.

Tears For Fears once sang “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.”




When I watch these teams play… I believe that.

Wolfgang Von Bunt
BYB Staff Writer
Twitter: @WVBunt



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